If God came down to earth today would He find ten good men in Sydney?

Reflection on the readings of Mass for Monday, 01 July 2013

Monday of the Thirteenth week in Ordinary Time

Genesis 18:16-33.

Abraham and the men who had visited him by the Terebinth of Mamre set out from there and looked down toward Sodom; Abraham was walking with them, to see them on their way.
The LORD reflected: "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do,
now that he is to become a great and populous nation, and all the nations of the earth are to find blessing in him?
Indeed, I have singled him out that he may direct his sons and his posterity to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD may carry into effect for Abraham the promises he made about him."
Then the LORD said: "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great, and their sin so grave, that I must go down and see whether or not their actions fully correspond to the cry against them that comes to me. I mean to find out."
While the two men walked on farther toward Sodom, the LORD remained standing before Abraham.
Then Abraham drew nearer to him and said: "Will you sweep away the innocent with the guilty?
Suppose there were fifty innocent people in the city; would you wipe out the place, rather than spare it for the sake of the fifty innocent people within it?
Far be it from you to do such a thing, to make the innocent die with the guilty, so that the innocent and the guilty would be treated alike! Should not the judge of all the world act with justice?"
The LORD replied, "If I find fifty innocent people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake."
Abraham spoke up again: "See how I am presuming to speak to my Lord, though I am but dust and ashes!
What if there are five less than fifty innocent people? Will you destroy the whole city because of those five?" "I will not destroy it," he answered, "if I find forty-five there."
But Abraham persisted, saying, "What if only forty are found there?" He replied, "I will forebear doing it for the sake of the forty."
Then he said, "Let not my Lord grow impatient if I go on. What if only thirty are found there?" He replied, "I will forebear doing it if I can find but thirty there."
Still he went on, "Since I have thus dared to speak to my Lord, what if there are no more than twenty?" "I will not destroy it," he answered, "for the sake of the twenty."
But he still persisted: "Please, let not my Lord grow angry if I speak up this last time. What if there are at least ten there?" "For the sake of those ten," he replied, "I will not destroy it."
The LORD departed as soon as he had finished speaking with Abraham, and Abraham returned home.

Ps 103(102):1-2.3-4.8-9.10-11.

Bless the LORD, O my soul;
and all my being, bless his holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits.

He pardons all your iniquities,
he heals all your ills.
He redeems your life from destruction,
he crowns you with kindness and compassion.

Merciful and gracious is the LORD,
slow to anger and abounding in kindness.
He will not always chide,
nor does he keep his wrath forever.

Not according to our sins does he deal with us,
nor does he requite us according to our crimes.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so surpassing is his kindness toward those who fear him.

Mt 8:18-22.

When Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side.
A scribe approached and said to him, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go."
Jesus answered him, "Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head."
Another of (his) disciples said to him, "Lord, let me go first and bury my father."
But Jesus answered him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead."

 Commentary of the day :

Saint Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787), Bishop and Doctor of the Church
Address for the Octave of Christmas

"The Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head"

Address for the Octave of Christmas, no.8There are certainly some compassionate princes in the world who are glad to dedicate their wealth for the relief of the poor. But has anyone ever met a king who, to relieve the poor, has taken on their condition as Jesus Christ did? People tell, as though it were a phenomenon of charity, that the king, Saint Edward, meeting a lame and wholly destitute beggar on his path, took him lovingly onto his shoulders and carried him into the church. It's true that this was a great deed of charity that struck people with amazement, but following this deed Saint Edward did not renounce either his monarchy nor the wealth he possessed.Jesus, King of heaven and earth, to save mankind his lost sheep, was not satisfied, to the contrary, with coming down from heaven to look for it and set it on his shoulders (Lk 15,5): he did not hesitate to strip off his majesty, wealth and honors. He made himself poor..., the poorest of all. Saint Peter Damian says that he hid his purple, that is to say his divine majesty, under the appearance of a poor workman. Saint Gregory Nazianzen exclaims: “He who gives their wealth to the wealthy chooses poverty for himself so as to win us, by his merits, not the poor, passing possessions of this earth but heavenly possessions, vast and eternal.” His example invites us to detach ourselves from this world's wealth, which puts us at risk of being lost for ever (cf Mk 10,23).

Pushing the Plough in a different direction

Commentary on today's readings at Mass

 

Sunday, 30 June 2013
 Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year C

 1 Kings 19:16-21. 

Then you shall anoint Jehu, son of Nimshi, as king of Israel, and Elisha, son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah, as prophet to succeed you.

If anyone escapes the sword of Hazael, Jehu will kill him. If he escapes the sword if Jehu, Elisha will kill him.
Yet I will leave seven thousand men in Israel--all those who have not knelt to Baal or kissed him."
Elijah set out, and came upon Elisha, son of Shaphat, as he was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen; he was following the twelfth. Elijah went over to him and threw his cloak over him.
Elisha left the oxen, ran after Elijah, and said, "Please, let me kiss my father and mother good-bye, and I will follow you." "Go back!" Elijah answered. "Have I done anything to you?"
Elisha left him and, taking the yoke of oxen, slaughtered them; he used the plowing equipment for fuel to boil their flesh, and gave it to his people to eat. Then he left and followed Elijah as his attendant.

Ps 16(15):1-2.5.7-8.9-10.11. 

Keep me, O God, for in you I take refuge;

I say to the LORD, “My Lord are you.
O LORD, my allotted portion and my cup,
you it is who hold fast my lot.”

I bless the LORD who counsels me;

even in the night my heart exhorts me.
I set the LORD ever before me;
With him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.

Therefore my heart is glad and my soul rejoices,

my body, too, abides in confidence
because you will not abandon my soul to the netherworld,
nor will you suffer your faithful one to undergo corruption.

You will show me the path to life,

Fullness of joys in your presence,
The delights at your right hand forever.
 

Gal. 5:1.13-18. 
Brothers and sisters: For freedom Christ set us free; so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.
For you were called for freedom, brothers. But do not use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh; rather, serve one another through love.
For the whole law is fulfilled in one statement, namely, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
But if you go on biting and devouring one another, beware that you are not consumed by one another.
I say, then: live by the Spirit and you will certainly not gratify the desire of the flesh.
For the flesh has desires against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you may not do what you want.

But if you are guided by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

Lk 9:51-62. 

When the days for Jesus to be taken up were fulfilled, he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem, and he sent messengers ahead of him. On the way they entered a Samaritan village to prepare for his reception there, but they would not welcome him because the destination of his journey was Jerusalem.

When the disciples James and John saw this they asked, "Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?"

Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they journeyed to another village.

As they were proceeding on their journey someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go."

Jesus answered him, "Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head."

And to another he said, "Follow me." But he replied, "(Lord,) let me go first and bury my father."

But he answered him, "Let the dead bury their dead. But you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God."

And another said, "I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say farewell to my family at home." To him Jesus said, "No one who sets a hand to the plough and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God."

Commentary of the day :

I used to use the last line of Jesus’s message today as the motivation for me to keep going with priesthood even though I was finding it exceedingly difficult and the tasks unrewarding. I also feared giving up the role knowing many people would use this text against me in condemnation - which some eventually did.

“You took your hand off the plough and looked back... you are not fit for the Kingdom!” was a typical criticism. I expected it and as the comment was made mostly by total strangers, it didn’t hurt as much as it would have if it was said by someone I cared about.

However I have tried to justify myself by claiming not to have given up my role. I have not stopped caring for the people entrusted to me by our Lord and I have continued to push the plough in a different direction.

Jesus made this statement I feel to encourage people to keep at the task of preaching the Gospel once they decided to follow Him and not look back at the lack of finances they suffer as a result of giving up their employment.

A Vietnamese friend, Frank Vuong Nguyen taught me how to drive a tractor on his farm in Riverstone and as I was doing the ploughing this day I kept looking behind me when I was driving to see if I was making straight furrows, but to my surprise they were really wavy lines. He said, "Didn't you hear Jesus words, 'Don't look behind you'? Just keep your eyes in the direction you want to go and the tractor (plough) will just make a straight course. He said, "You have got to keep your eyes on where you want to be". In a spiritual analogy, you have to keep your eyes on Jesus the Christ.
Just like Peter sank when he was walking on the water, because he looked at the waves and took his eyes off Jesus who had called him to come, we must keep our eyes on Jesus who calls us to follow Him and not take notice of the nay-sayers around us or the waves of difficulty and we will sail in a straight line to Jesus our destination.

St Paul writing to the Galatians reminds them that our spiritual nature and our physical nature are opposed to each other. This explains what I was saying to Val in an earlier post. The desire within us to make a difference in the world and leave some lasting proof of our connection to Jesus Christ is not as strong as our desire to have immediate personal fulfilment and happiness. Our humanity is stronger therefore than our spirituality. But ultimately it is our spirit that outlives our body so it makes sense to expend energy in assuring our eternal happiness with God by doing spiritually valuable things.

OK that’s me. What about you?

How do you read this passage? What does it have to say to you?
Have you made excuses for following Jesus? Do you have a valid reason for not doing the mission God made you for?

Comments from Pope John XXIII (1881-1963), pope

 Journal of a soul, June 1957 [before his election as Pope] (trans.©Geoffrey Chapman, 1965)

"I will follow you wherever you go"

“Give me more light as evening falls.” O Lord, we are now in the evening of our life. I am in my seventy-sixth year. Life is a great gift from our heavenly Father. Three-quarters of my contemporaries have passed over to the far shore. So I too must always be ready for the great moment. The thought of death does not alarm me... My health is excellent and still robust, but I cannot count on it. I want to hold myself ready to reply “adsum” at any, even the most unexpected moment. Old age, likewise a great gift of the Lord's, must be for me a source of tranquil inner joy, and a reason for trusting day by day in the Lord himself, to whom I am now turned as a child turns to his father's open arms. My poor life, now such a long one, has unwound itself as easily as a ball of string, under the sign of simplicity and purity. It costs me nothing to acknowledge and repeat that I am nothing and worth precisely nothing. The Lord caused me to be born of poor folk, and he has seen to all my needs. I have left it to him... Truly, “the will of God is my peace” (Dante Alighieri). And my hope is all in Jesus' mercy... I think the Lord Jesus has in store for me, before I die, for my complete mortification and purification and in order to admit me to his everlasting joy, some great suffering and affliction of body and spirit. Well, I accept everything and with all my heart, if it is for his glory and the good of my soul and for the souls of my dear spiritual children. I fear my weakness in bearing pain; I implore him to help me, for I have little faith in myself, but complete faith in the Lord Jesus. There are two gates to paradise: innocence and penance. Which of us, poor frail creatures, can expect to find the first of these wide open? But we may be sure of the other: Jesus passed through it, bearing his Cross in atonement for our sins, and he invites us to follow him.

 

Feast of Sts Peter & Paul

Saturday, 29 June 2013

Acts 12:1-11.

In those days, King Herod laid hands upon some members of the Church to harm them.
He had James, the brother of John, killed by the sword,
and when he saw that this was pleasing to the Jews he proceeded to arrest Peter also. (It was (the) feast of Unleavened Bread.)
He had him taken into custody and put in prison under the guard of four squads of four soldiers each. He intended to bring him before the people after Passover.
Peter thus was being kept in prison, but prayer by the church was fervently being made to God on his behalf.
On the very night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter, secured by double chains, was sleeping between two soldiers, while outside the door guards kept watch on the prison.
Suddenly the angel of the Lord stood by him and a light shone in the cell. He tapped Peter on the side and awakened him, saying, "Get up quickly." The chains fell from his wrists.
The angel said to him, "Put on your belt and your sandals." He did so. Then he said to him, "Put on your cloak and follow me."
So he followed him out, not realizing that what was happening through the angel was real; he thought he was seeing a vision.
They passed the first guard, then the second, and came to the iron gate leading out to the city, which opened for them by itself. They emerged and made their way down an alley, and suddenly the angel left him.
Then Peter recovered his senses and said, "Now I know for certain that (the) Lord sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people had been expecting."

Ps 34(33):2-3.4-5.6-7.8-9.

I will bless the LORD at all times;
His praise shall be ever in my mouth.
Let my soul glory in the LORD;
The lowly will hear me and be glad.

Glorify the LORD with me,
Let us together extol his name.
I sought the LORD, and he answered me
And delivered me from all my fears.

Look to him that you may be radiant with joy,
And your faces may not blush with shame.
When the poor one called out, the LORD heard,
And from all his distress he saved him.

The angel of the LORD encamps
Around those who fear him, and delivers them.
Taste and see how good the LORD is;
Blessed the man who takes refuge in him.

2 Tim 4:6-8.17-18.

I, Paul, am already being poured out like a libation, and the time of my departure is at hand.
I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.
From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me, which the Lord, the just judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but to all who have longed for his appearance.
But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the proclamation might be completed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was rescued from the lion's mouth.
The Lord will rescue me from every evil threat and will bring me safe to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Mt 16:13-19.

When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples, «Who do people say that the Son of Man is?»
They replied, "Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets."
He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"
Simon Peter said in reply, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God."
Jesus said to him in reply, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.
And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.
I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."


Commentary of the day :

Saint Clement of Rome, Pope from 90 to about 100
Letter to the Corinthians, 5-7 (trans. cf breviary 30/06)

The most ancient historical testimony to the martyrdom of Peter and Paul

Let us leave the instances from the past, and come to some of the heroes of more recent times. Take the noble figures of out own generation. Even the greatest and most virtuous pillars of our Church were assailed by envy and jealousy, and had to keep up the struggle till death ended their days. Look at the holy apostles. It was by sinful jealousy that Peter was subjected to tribulation, not once or twice but many times; it was in that way that he bore his witness before leaving us for his well-earned place in glory. And Paul, because of jealousy and contention, has become the very type of endurance rewarded. He was in bonds seven times, he was exiled, he was stoned. He preached in the East and in the West, winning a noble reputation for his faith. He taught righteousness to all the world; and after reaching the furthest limits of the West, and bearing his testimony before kings and rulers, he passed out of this world and was received into the holy places. In him we have one of the greatest of all examples of endurance. Besides these men of saintly life, there are many more of the elect who have undergone hardships and torments instigated by jealousy, and provide admirable object lessons for ourselves... Now, all this is not being written as a warning to you alone, my dear friends, but for a reminder to ourselves as well, because we too are in the same arena and have the same conflict before us. So let us be done with these barren and empty fancies, and turn instead to the honorable, holy rule of our tradition, so that we can find out what is good and pleasing and acceptable in the sight of him who made us. Let us fix our thoughts on the blood of Christ; and reflect how precious that blood is in God's eyes, inasmuch as its outpouring for our salvation has opened the grace of repentance to all mankind.

Tell someone today that God loves them

Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him

Mass Readings and reflection for Friday of the Twelfth week in Ordinary Time 
Friday, 28 June 2013

St. Irenaeus, Bishop and Martyr (+ 202) - Memorial


Gen 17:1.9-10.15-22.

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said: "I am God the Almighty. Walk in my presence and be blameless.
God also said to Abraham: "On your part, you and your descendants after you must keep my covenant throughout the ages.
This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you that you must keep: every male among you shall be circumcised.
God further said to Abraham: "As for your wife Sarai, do not call her Sarai; her name shall be Sarah.
I will bless her, and I will give you a son by her. Him also will I bless; he shall give rise to nations, and rulers of peoples shall issue from him."
Abraham prostrated himself and laughed as he said to himself, "Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Or can Sarah give birth at ninety?"
Then Abraham said to God, "Let but Ishmael live on by your favor!"
God replied: "Nevertheless, your wife Sarah is to bear you a son, and you shall call him Isaac. I will maintain my covenant with him as an everlasting pact, to be his God and the God of his descendants after him.
As for Ishmael, I am heeding you: I hereby bless him. I will make him fertile and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall become the father of twelve chieftains, and I will make of him a great nation.
But my covenant I will maintain with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you by this time next year."
When he had finished speaking with him, God departed from Abraham.

Ps 128(127):1-2.3.4-5.

Blessed are you who fear the LORD,
Who walk in his ways!
For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork;
Blessed shall you be, and favored.

Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
In the recesses of your home;
Your children like olive plants
Around your table.

Behold, thus is the man blessed
Who fears the LORD.
The LORD bless you from Zion:
May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
All the days of your life.

Matthew 8:1-4.

When Jesus came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him.
And then a leper approached, did him homage, and said, "Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean."
He stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, "Of course I will do it. Be made clean." And his leprosy was cleansed immediately.
Then Jesus said to him, "See that you tell no one, but go show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them."

 Commentary of the day :

Blessed Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997), founder of the Missionary Sisters of Charity
A Simple Path, p. 79

"Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him"

Mother Teresa said, "The greatest disease in the West today is not tuberculosis or leprosy; it is being unwanted, unloved and uncared for. We can cure physical diseases with medicine, but the only cure for loneliness, despair and hopelessness is love. There are many in the world who are dying for a piece of bread, but there are many more dying for a little love. The poverty in the West is a different kind of poverty – it is not only a poverty of loneliness bu also of spirituality. There's a hunger for love as there is a hunger for God."

 

The social media phenomenon is proof of the disease that has pervaded society. We have lost the ability to truly care for one another. We do not reach out our hand and touch others. We just click away on a screen or device and make comments about things that are not truly important.
People are still feeling isolated and alone, like modern day lepers, keeping contact only through mediums like Facebook, Twitter and text messages.

My friend Paul Mizzi, who was one of my very first student altar servers when I was a deacon, whose Birthday it is today, turned off his FB account to see who would actually call him and wish him a happy Birthday. He was disappointed at how few people did.

He wrote the following comment:

"Its funny.. And it shows . That with out Facebook people are lost... And they look past the things that are important ."

My response was: "I totally agree Paul. People have lost the art of true conversation and interaction. I sit on a train & watch people exchanging inane details of their lives while ignoring the real people all around them.

Paul, you don't need lots of friends, only a handful of real friends who are there for you when things get rough or those you can call on when you need to move house (he he) but the rest are there to make us feel special. I am so close to finishing with social networking. I used it to spread a message but now I realise people would rather talk footy scores, skincare remedies or recipes for cakes than the real issues of life. You are loved Paul and your family are the ones who really matter. Friends are only friends when they prove they care. And you can tell your friends by how they react to good news for you, if you get likes when you say you have done well, then you know who really is happy for you.

Jesus showed by His touch and His words to people whom society had ignored, that they were special regardless of their social status. They were loved by God and Who better than God is there to love us?
I think the reason people feel depressed or sad is that they don't know that fact.
I always tell the story of the guy who was on a beach with a girl he had met the night before at a club (he slept the last hours of the night with her on the sand as they were both pissed) and two Jehovah's witnesses came up and said to him:
"Hey, do you know God loves you?"
He was about to tell these two weird looking guys in their white shirts and long black pants to go to Bargo but he thought for a second.
He looked at the unrecognisable face of the girl who lay beside him. He thought, "She doesn't love me. She doesn't even know me. My parents don't love me, they split up and fought about how much time they each had to spend with him. Even my so-called friends don't really love me.."
So he said to one of them, "How do you know God loves me?"
THe guy then squatted down and told him, "Because he made you. He gave you life and a body and a mind".
Then a short conversation ensued and he found himself in a church later that day (being a Sunday). He prayed "Lord, if you really are loving me, show me a sign". He said someone then came up and said to him, "God does love you, you know?"
And after that, he never looked back. He gave his life to Jesus. He prayed for a vocation and was doing that when I met him. David Harrison was in a church in Manly praying one Sunday afternoon and his face radiated peace and love. I felt compelled to ask him what gave him such a special love for Jesus (since it was also a Sunday and he looked out of place.. a cool looking young fella in a church while everyone else was at the beach or watching the footy on TV).
And he told me that story.
So I truly believe that knowing that God loves them could transform a person's life, so keep reminding people who are feeling sad, by darling to say, "God loves you!"

Mother of Perpetual Help Feast Day a personal note

Today’s Feast – Mother of Perpetual Help

 

One of the first pieces of furniture I organised to purchase for our new church at Glenmore Park, dedicated to Padre Pio, was a shrine dedicated to Our Mother of Perpetual Help. Now I know some who bother to read this far are just about to switch off, thinking “Oh that’s just another one of his religious mumbo jumbo so I will give it a miss”. But stay reading, who knows you might just learn something that might change your life. It is for you educated ignoramuses that I write the following blog.

One of the remnants from my childhood version of religion is an attachment to religious ‘things’ like statues and holy pictures. Not the silly looking plastic painted statues you would remember from church piety stores, but the realistic kind that you swear moved when you turned your head. I remember many times when I have been praying in a church late at night and I feel a ‘presence’ nearby and turn expecting to see a person only to see a statue which was previously just outside my peripheral vision. I swear it moved!

So I started talking to statues and befriending them. I was not going crazy because of the loneliness of celibacy, I was talking to the saint whose image was represented, not the plaster or wood carving.

Anyway, my favourite image or icon which has a long tradition is the representation of our Mother of Perpetual Help which has a great story behind it. It was painted centuries ago and represents in iconography the child Jesus asleep in His mother’s arms. He has a dream in which two angels come to Him and show Him the instruments of His death as well as some other symbols of what happened to Him during His crucifixion. One angel is holding a hammer, nails and Greek cross and the other holds the spear with the sponge soaked in vinegar as well as the one that pierced His side after His death.

When He saw these Jesus jumped in His mother’s arm and kicked off His sandal but holds on tightly to His mother. There are lots of explanations of this representation but what I was told is that when you have problems in your life, you should hold on tight to your heavenly Mother’s hand.

I was very eager to get one for our church as well as a shrine with candles you can light in front of it. We actually used ours as a fundraiser to buy a bus for the parish (one of the first things the new parish priest who took over after me wanted to do was use that money for something else as well as get rid of the Shrine because he never really fully embraced Catholicism when he ‘converted’ to become a priest, but some good people on the Pastoral Council opposed him).

Bernadette Boulos actually bought and paid for the shrine in the Philippines and we reimbursed her later on (but she probably doesn’t want me to tell you this but she personally donated $38,000 to the Padre Pio Church building appeal and she is not even a parishioner!) The people who ended up paying for the shrine were the Rod and Deborah Mitchell family together with the Perry Family. I can’t remember how much it cost but it was close to $6,000 if I recall correctly.

So why the devotion?

It was a pious practice promoted by the Redemptorist priests. I learnt about it when I visited the enormous church  in Baclaran (near Manila, Philippines) and was blown away by the sight of ten thousand worshippers all praying at one of the 11 services they hold there every Wednesday.
Well as I used to tell the devotees who attended our church on a Wednesday night at 7pm for the Novena Mass, if Mary was not interceding for people and their prayers were not getting answered do you think people would still keep coming in big numbers week after week?

And if I didn’t get the answer to all my prayers, do you think I would have persevered with offering the long Novena Mass every Wednesday evening in every parish for close to twenty years when I didn’t have to?

Let me explain some of the miracles I witnessed.

Countless barren couples came to me lamenting the fact that they have not got children. I promised that if they attended the Novena as a couple for nine Wednesdays in a row, they would get their baby. Not one couple has been disappointed. I got the privilege of baptising most of those children and some of them bear the name Kevin in gratitude for my convincing them to pray to Jesus’ Mother for their ‘miracle child’.

I attribute my own as yet unborn daughter’s conception to the prayers I offered for the gift of a child after trying many, many times to have a baby with Josefina.

People who had been unemployed for an extended period of time, miraculously got a job by the end of the nine weeks.

People whose marriages looked irredeemable were reunited after one of the couple attended the Novena for nine weeks in a row and prayed the prayers.

But by far the best miracle for anyone is finding their life partner. Previously lonely people unable to find a person to love have also cried on my shoulder about their failures in love. I suggest the Novena all the time. It worked for me!

When I had decided to leave ministry because of, you guessed it, finding that the priesthood was full of frauds, I prayed for God to show me who I could spend my life with. Little did I know that on another continent a young girl was praying the exact same prayer and asking our Mother of Perpetual Help to guide her. I wasn’t looking for a wife the night I went to that karaoke bar.  I just went to sing and have a few drinks with some good friends from the parish. But our paths were destined to cross and as they say in the classics, the rest is history. I now have the most beautiful person in the world as my wife. Thank you Jesus and Mary!  

People looking for a life partner have always received a spouse after praying the Novena faithfully.  

Is it superstition? No, it couldn’t be. If it were, there are a whole lot of coincidences going on with this ‘superstitious’ practice. I don’t have an explanation but this particular devotion is one of the reasons, despite my bad experience with the Catholic Church and its imposters for leaders, I could not change my religion. No other religion offers so many crutches to assist people with weak faith. I could write a thousand more paragraphs about that but I will save it for another blog.

I just couldn’t miss the feast of our Mother of Perpetual Help without lauding one more time, the Mother of Jesus who has always been helping me and loving me like her own Son. And this devotion has helped me at times when my trust in humanity waned. I have met so many wonderful people through this devotion that we prayed together.

It is pure miracle given by God in reward for people who persevered in prayer and proved their commitment to the reason for their prayers.

I attended the feast of Mother of Perpetual Help Mass today in the company of many true believers. No one was there on a whim or a hope or even to be seen. They were there because they are grateful they have been granted a miracle that they desperately needed. Their faith, hope and love was fulfilled and God gave them their wish to show that He does listen to His mother, at whose behest He performed His first and most unnecessary and reluctant of miracles.

When Mary said at the wedding feast in Cana, Galilee “Son, they have no wine?”

He replied, “Woman, what’s that got to do with you or me?” And you know the rest of the story, Mary tells the waiters “Do whatever He tells you” and Jesus told them to fill six stone water jugs with water and He turned it into wine!

So, Mary says the same to you now, “Do whatever He tells you!” and if you do, He will perform miracles for you too!

I am proof of that.

Happy Fiesta!

 

By their fruits you shall know them

Readings of today's Mass

Gen 15:1-12.17-18. 

The word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: "Fear not, Abram! I am your shield; I will make your reward very great."
But Abram said, "O Lord GOD, what good will your gifts be, if I keep on being childless and have as my heir the steward of my house, Eliezer?"
Abram continued, "See, you have given me no offspring, and so one of my servants will be my heir."
Then the word of the LORD came to him: "No, that one shall not be your heir; your own issue shall be your heir."
He took him outside and said: "Look up at the sky and count the stars, if you can. Just so," he added, "shall your descendants be."
Abram put his faith in the LORD, who credited it to him as an act of righteousness.
He then said to him, "I am the LORD who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land as a possession."
"O Lord GOD," he asked, "How am I to know that I shall possess it?"
He answered him, "Bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old she-goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtle-dove, and a young pigeon."
He brought him all these, split them in two, and placed each half opposite the other; but the birds he did not cut up.
Birds of prey swooped down on the carcasses, but Abram stayed with them.
As the sun was about to set, a trance fell upon Abram, and a deep, terrifying darkness enveloped him.
When the sun had set and it was dark, there appeared a smoking brazier and a flaming torch, which passed between those pieces.
It was on that occasion that the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying: "To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the Great River (the Euphrates),

Ps 105(104):1-2.3-4.6-7.8-9.

Give thanks to the LORD, invoke his name;
make known among the nations his deeds.
Sing to him, sing his praise,
proclaim all his wondrous deeds.

Glory in his holy name;
Rejoice, O hearts that seek the LORD!
Look to the LORD in his strength;
Seek to serve him constantly.

You descendants of Abraham, his servants,
Sons of Jacob, his chosen ones!
He, the LORD, is our God;
Throughout the earth his judgments prevail.

He remembers forever his covenant
which he made binding for a thousand generations –
Which he entered into with Abraham
and by his oath to Isaac.

Matt 7:15-20.

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but underneath are ravenous wolves.  By their fruits you will know them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Just so, every good tree bears good fruit, and a rotten tree bears bad fruit.
A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a rotten tree bear good fruit.
Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
So by their fruits you will know them.

 Commentary of the day :

Saint Teresa of Avila (1515-1582), Carmelite, Doctor of the Church
The Interior Castle, 5th Mansion, 3, 10-11
"By their fruits you will know them"

Oh, Sisters, how clearly one sees the degree to which love of neighbor is present in some of you, and how clearly one sees the deficiency in those who lack such perfection! If you were to understand how important this virtue is for us you wouldn't engage in any other study. When I see souls very earnest in trying to understand the prayer they have and very sullen when they are in it - for it seems they don't dare let their minds move or stir lest a bit of their spiritual delight and devotion be lost - it makes me realize how little they understand of the way by which union is attained; they think the whole matter lies in these things. No, Sisters, absolutely not; works are what the Lord wants! He desires that if you see a Sister who is sick to whom you can bring some relief, you have compassion for her and not worry about losing this devotion; and that if she is suffering pain, you also feel it; and that, if necessary, you fast so that she might eat - not so much for her sake as because you know it is your Lord's desire. This is true union with his will.

I got a shocking email today from a woman who was sexually abused while in an orphanage in Queensland. She had to take the priest his meals and when she did, he would be invariably pissed as a newt. He was Irish. Far from family and loved ones, promised to celibacy, he found his lusts released in rubbing himself up against this poor little girl who brought him his food.
She told me how her life was destroyed after the events that tragically were ignored by the Sisters who ran the orphanage the badly named, Sisters of Mercy.
When she eventually as an adult spoke to the nuns, one of them said, "Oh he's dead now. Just forgive him and pray for him". Such horrible ignorance. How could you just forget and forgive being ravished by a smelly old man? She described in her email all the horrible things this depraved man did to her and other young girls who had the misfortune of being sent to serve him.
He gave her cigarettes and later scotch to assure her silence but she admits only using them to dull the pain of his filthy actions.
This dear friends is the depravity of celibacy.
Make no mistake, to pretend that men can survive without sexual relationships and remain healthy loving and spiritual people is a fantasy. Please help others who quite easily might become victims of sexually deprived men like him, by saying NO to compulsory celibacy for priests.
As Jesus said, By their fruits you shall know them. Have you seen any good come from the prohibition of marriage for clergy by the Catholic Church?
Do you think priests are getting better at preaching about life because of it?

I do this to encourage you

Don't give your precious things to pigs

Tuesday of the Twelfth week in Ordinary Time                     Tuesday, 25 June 2013

Genesis  13:2.5-18.

Abram was very rich in livestock, silver, and gold.
Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents,
so that the land could not support them if they stayed together; their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together.
There were quarrels between the herdsmen of Abram's livestock and those of Lot's. (At this time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were occupying the land.)
So Abram said to Lot: "Let there be no strife between you and me, or between your herdsmen and mine, for we are kinsmen.
Is not the whole land at your disposal? Please separate from me. If you prefer the left, I will go to the right; if you prefer the right, I will go to the left."
Lot looked about and saw how well watered the whole Jordan Plain was as far as Zoar, like the LORD'S own garden, or like Egypt. (This was before the LORD had destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)
Lot, therefore, chose for himself the whole Jordan Plain and set out eastward. Thus they separated from each other;
Abram stayed in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled among the cities of the Plain, pitching his tents near Sodom.
Now the inhabitants of Sodom were very wicked in the sins they committed against the LORD.
After Lot had left, the LORD said to Abram: "Look about you, and from where you are, gaze to the north and south, east and west;
all the land that you see I will give to you and your descendants forever.
I will make your descendants like the dust of the earth; if anyone could count the dust of the earth, your descendants too might be counted.
Set forth and walk about in the land, through its length and breadth, for to you I will give it."
Abram moved his tents and went on to settle near the terebinth of Mamre, which is at Hebron. There he built an altar to the LORD.

Ps 15(14):2-3a.3bc-4ab.5.

He who walks blamelessly and does justice;
Who thinks the truth in his heart
and slanders not with his tongue.


Who harms not his fellow man,
while he honors those who fear the LORD.

Who lends not his money at usury
and accepts no bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things
shall never be disturbed.

Matt 7:6.12-14.

Do not give what is holy to dogs, or throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them underfoot, and turn and tear you to pieces.
Do to others whatever you would have them do to you. This is the law and the prophets.
Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many.
How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few.

Commentary:

 Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs. His bed was next to the room's only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back. The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation. And every afternoon when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he

Would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window. The man in the other bed began to live for those one-hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and colour of the world outside. The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every colour of the rainbow. Grand old trees graced the landscape, and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance. As the man by the window described all this exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene. One warm afternoon the man by the window described a parade passing by. Although the other man couldn't hear the band -- he could see it in his mind's eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words.

 Then unexpectedly, a sinister thought entered his mind. Why should the other man alone experience all the pleasures of seeing everything while he himself never got to see anything? It didn't seem fair. At first thought the man felt ashamed. But as the days passed and he missed seeing more sights, his envy eroded

into resentment and soon turned him sour. He began to brood and he found himself unable to sleep. He should be by that window - that thought, and only that thought now controlled his life. Late one night as he lay staring at the ceiling, the man by the window began to cough. He was choking on the fluid in his lungs. The other man watched in the dimly lit room as the struggling man by the window groped for the button to call for help. Listening from across the room he never moved, never pushed his own button which would have brought the nurse running in. In less than five minutes the coughing and choking stopped along with that the sound of breathing. Now there was only silence-deathly silence. The following morning the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths. When she found the lifeless body of the man by the window, she was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take it away. As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.

 Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the world outside. Finally, he would have the joy of seeing it all himself. He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed. It faced a blank wall. The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate who had described such wonderful things outside this window. The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall. She said, "Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you."

Now I know very few people read these reflections so I can be more honest in what I say (rather than the priest in the pulpit who is scared of deterring his followers from contributing to the collection by delivering a challenging sermon).
I write these not to impress people with my spiritual insights or to upset people, but to encourage those who struggle.

But this very brief passage from Matthew is filled with import.
Jesus warns us to not waste our time with people who will not appreciate the value of what we are offering.
I knew this in regards to talking about religion when I was preparing couples for marriage.
How I would love to share with them the beauty of our Catholic faith but I knew they would not understand. They were too focussed on themselves and their goals.
But Jesus warns us to make an effort to reach the eternal life that is hard to get into. He says the gate is narrow which means we should be tightening our belts to fit in. Stripping from ourselves the things (and people) that don't matter or are weighing you down unnecessarily will allow you to keep walking on with a quicker stride to achieve the purpose you were given life for.
Blessings on your day!
Kevin Lee

Birthday of John the Baptist & my niece and god daughter Kathleen

John the Baptiser was a relative of Jesus and He was much loved by Him. Jesus said, "Of all born of women (which would be everyone) none greater than John the Baptist has been born".

The Nativity of Saint John the Baptist - Solemnity

John the Baptist has always been a role model for me. He spoke against authority that was evil and he was arrested and put in prison. He didn't fear judgement by earthly courts and ultimately lost his life, beheaded in prison at the request of the King's adulterous wife.

What made his greatness? Not his number of followers on Twitter or Facebook, of his position in the Church or politics, nor his clothing (he wore camel skin with a leather belt).
It was his integrity. That's what makes for true greatness. John the Baptist never aspired to become great. He just did what he believed was right and spoke the truth in all circumstances even when it was not popular.
I chose the date for my first Mass as a priest on the second Sunday of Advent so I could read the Gospel story of John the Baptist and say how I want to be like him. He didn't preach himself, he preached Jesus Christ and His message of hope for the poor and those who have lost hope.
I am not a great person but I aspire to become a better imitator of John the Baptist.
 John said of Jesus,   "He must increase, I must decrease" (Jn 3,30)
It is also my goddaughter's birthday today. Kathleen is my niece and I am very proud of her too. She has achieved well and I hope she will do great things with her life too..
i
Here is the readings for Mass today with a commentary:

Isaiah 49:1-6. 

Hear me, O islands, listen, O distant peoples. The Lord called me from birth, from my mother's womb he gave me my name.
He made of me a sharp-edged sword and concealed me in the shadow of his arm. He made me a polished arrow, in his quiver he hid me.
You are my servant, he said to me, Israel, through whom I show my glory.
Though I thought I had toiled in vain, and for nothing, uselessly, spent my strength, Yet my reward is with the LORD, my recompense is with my God.
For now the LORD has spoken who formed me as his servant from the womb, That Jacob may be brought back to him and Israel gathered to him; And I am made glorious in the sight of the LORD, and my God is now my strength!
It is too little, he says, for you to be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and restore the survivors of Israel; I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.

Ps 139(138):1b-3.13-14ab.14c-15.

O LORD, you have probed me, you know me:
You know when I sit and when I stand;
You understand my thoughts from afar.
My journeys and my rest you scrutinize,
With all my ways you are familiar.

Truly you have formed my inmost being;
You knit me in my mother's womb.
I give you thanks that I am fearfully, wonderfully made;
wonderful are your works.

My soul also you knew full well;
nor was my frame unknown to you
When I was made in secret,
when I was fashioned in the depths of the earth.

Acts 13:22-26.

In those days, Paul said: “God raised up David as king; of him God testified, I have found David, son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will carry out my every wish.
From this man's descendants God, according to his promise, has brought to Israel a savior, Jesus.
John heralded his coming by proclaiming a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel;
and as John was completing his course, he would say, 'What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. Behold, one is coming after me; I am not worthy to unfasten the sandals of his feet.'
"My brothers, children of the family of Abraham, and those others among you who are God-fearing, to us this word of salvation has been sent".

Luke 1:57-66.80.

When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child she gave birth to a son.
Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy toward her, and they rejoiced with her.
When they came on the eighth day to circumcise the child, they were going to call him Zechariah after his father,
but his mother said in reply, "No. He will be called John."
But they answered her, "There is no one among your relatives who has this name."
So they made signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called.
He asked for a tablet and wrote, "John is his name," and all were amazed.
Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed, and he spoke blessing God.
Then fear came upon all their neighbors, and all these matters were discussed throughout the hill country of Judea.
All who heard these things took them to heart, saying, "What, then, will this child be?" For surely the hand of the Lord was with him.
The child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the desert until the day of his manifestation to Israel.

 Commentary of the day :

Saint Maximus of Turin (?-c.420), Bishop
Sermon 99 ; PL 57, 535

"He must increase, I must decrease" (Jn 3,30)

Rightly indeed can John the Baptist say of the Lord our Savior: “He must increase but I must decrease” (Jn 3,30). The statement is being fulfilled at this very moment: at Christ's birth the days grow longer, at John's they grow shorter... When the Savior appears it is clear that the day increases and it declines at the birth of the last of the prophet's, for it is written: “The Law and the prophets lasted until John” (Lk 16,16). Inevitably the observance of the Law sank in shadow when the grace of the Gospel began to shine. The glory of the New Testament takes the place of the prophecy of the Old...The evangelist says with regard to our Lord Jesus Christ: “He was the true light who enlightens every man” (Jn 1,9)... It was when the duration of the night was extending over almost the whole of the day that our Lord's coming suddenly cast all its brightness. If his birth cast out the darkness of humankind's sins, his coming put an end to night and brought us light and day...Our Lord says that John is a lamp: “He was a burning and shining lamp” (Jn 5,35). But the light of a lamp pales when the sun shines: its flame dies down, overcome by an even more radiant light. What sensible person uses a lamp in full sunlight?... Who would still come for John's baptism of repentance (Mk 1,4) when Jesus' baptism brings salvation?

Don't worry about your clothes or your food. God knows what you need.. seek His reign first

Commentary on today's Mass readings 
 

 Saturday of the Eleventh week in Ordinary Time

Feast of Saints John Fisher, Bishop, and Thomas More, Martyrs - Proper readings

Saturday, 22 June 2013

2 Cor. 12:1-10. 

Brothers and sisters: I must boast; not that it is profitable, but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord.

I know someone in Christ who, fourteen years ago (whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows), was caught up to the third heaven.

And I know that this person (whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows) was caught up into Paradise and heard ineffable things, which no one may utter.

About this person I will boast, but about myself I will not boast, except about my weaknesses.

Although if I should wish to boast, I would not be foolish, for I would be telling the truth. But I refrain, so that no one may think more of me than what he sees in me or hears from me because of the abundance of the revelations. Therefore, that I might not become too elated, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, an angel of Satan, to beat me, to keep me from being too elated.

Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me, but he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness." I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me.

Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints, for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong.

 

Responsorial Psalm   Ps 34(33):8-9.10-11.12-13. 

The angel of the LORD encamps

Around those who fear him, and delivers them.
Taste and see how good the LORD is;
Blessed the man who takes refuge in him.

Fear the LORD, you his holy ones,

for nought is lacking to those who fear him.
The great grow poor and hungry;
but those who seek the LORD want for no good thing.

Come, children, hear me;

I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
Which of you desires life,
and takes delight in prosperous days?

GOSPEL St. Matthew 6:24-34. 

Jesus said to his disciples: «No one can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat (or drink), or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?
Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you more important than they?
Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span?

Why are you anxious about clothes? Learn from the way the wild flowers grow. They do not work or spin.

But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed like one of them.
If God so clothes the grass of the field, which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith?
So do not worry and say, 'What are we to eat?' or 'What are we to drink?' or 'What are we to wear?'
All these things the pagans seek. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides.

Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient for a day is its own evil.

 Commentary of the day :

 Saint Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556), founder of the Jesuits

 Spiritual Exercises, 233-234 (trans. Thomas Corbishley SJ)

"All these things will be given you besides"

Contemplation for achieving love:

A preliminary observation is to remark that... Love consists in a reciprocal interchange, the lover handing over and sharing with the beloved his possessions... and the other does the same...Asking for what I want. Here it will be to beg for a deep-felt appreciation of all the blessings I have been given, that out of the fullness of my gratitude I may become completely devoted to his Divine Majesty in effective love. The first point is to recall the good things I have received: my creation, redemption, personal gifts. I will rouse myself to reckon how much our Lord God has done for me, how much that is his own he has shared with me; I will further consider the divine plan whereby this same Lord wants to give me all that it is in his power to give. I then turn to myself and try to see what reason and justice demand that I offer, nay, give, His Divine Majesty in return-all that belongs to me, and with it all that I am in myself - in the spirit of one who makes a present out of a great love: “Take, Lord, into your possession, my complete freedom of action, my memory, my understanding and my entire will, all that I have, all that I own: it is your gift to me, I now return it to you. It is all yours, to be used simply as you wish. Give me your Love and your grace; it is all I need”.

You are not wealthy. Your wealth keeps you prisoner

You don't own your wealth. Your wealth owns you

Reflection on today's Mass readings by St. Aloysius Gonzaga (1568-1591)

 Friday of the Eleventh week in Ordinary Time                          Friday, 21 June 2013

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth... store up treasures in heaven"

Saint Ambrose

2 Cor. 11:18.21b-30. 

Brothers and sisters: since many boast according to the flesh, I too will boast. To my shame I say that we were too weak! But what anyone dares to boast of (I am speaking in foolishness) I also dare.

Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham?
So am I.  
Are they ministers of Christ? (I am talking like an insane person.) I am still more, with far greater labours, far more imprisonments, far worse beatings, and numerous brushes with death. Five times at the hands of the Jews I received forty lashes minus one.
Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I passed a night and a day on the deep; on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my own race, dangers from Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers at sea, dangers among false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many sleepless nights, through hunger and thirst, through frequent fastings, through cold and exposure.
And apart from these things, there is the daily pressure upon me of my anxiety for all the churches.
Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is led to sin, and I am not indignant?
If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.

 

Ps 34(33):2-3.4-5.6-7. 

I will bless the LORD at all times;

His praise shall be ever in my mouth.
Let my soul glory in the LORD;
The lowly will hear me and be glad.

Glorify the LORD with me,

Let us together extol his name.
I sought the LORD, and he answered me
And delivered me from all my fears.

Look to him that you may be radiant with joy,

And your faces may not blush with shame.
When the poor one called out, the LORD heard,
And from all his distress he saved him.

Matt 6:19-23. 

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and decay destroy, and thieves break in and steal. But store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.

The lamp of the body is the eye. If your eye is sound, your whole body will be filled with light; but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be in darkness. And if the light in you is darkness, how great will the darkness be.

 Commentary of the day :

 Saint Ambrose (c.340-397), Bishop of Milan and Doctor of the Church

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth... store up treasures in heaven"

You are a jailor of your wealth, not its owner, you who bury your gold in the ground (cf Matt 25:25); you are its slave and not its master. Christ said: “Where your treasure is there also your heart will be” so it is your heart you have buried. Rather, sell your gold and buy salvation; sell what is metal and acquire God's Kingdom; sell the field and purchase for yourself eternal life.

In saying this I am speaking the truth because I am relying on the words of Him who is Truth: “If you wish to be perfect, sell what you have and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven” (Matt 19:21).

Don't be cast down by these words lest the same thing be said to you as to the rich young man: “It will be hard for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of Heaven” (v.23). Still more, when you read this sentence, consider that death can snatch these possessions away from you, that the aggression of someone powerful can carry them away. At the end of the day you will have seen no further than insignificant goods in place of great wealth; these are no more than a treasure of coins rather than treasures of grace. By their very nature they perish rather than remaining for ever.

St Francis of Assisi comments on the Lord's Prayer

Daily Meditation on the readings of Mass (Thursday, 20 June 2013)

 Thursday of the Eleventh week in Ordinary Time

2 Cor. 11:1-11. 

Brothers and sisters: If only you would put up with a little foolishness from me! Please put up with me. For I am jealous of you with the jealousy of God, since I betrothed you to one husband to present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts may be corrupted from a sincere and pure commitment to Christ.

For if someone comes and preaches another Jesus than the one we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it well enough.

For I think that I am not in any way inferior to these "superapostles."

Even if I am untrained in speaking, I am not so in knowledge; in every way we have made this plain to you in all things.

Did I make a mistake when I humbled myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached the gospel of God to you without charge?

I plundered other churches by accepting from them in order to minister to you.

And when I was with you and in need, I did not burden anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my needs. So I refrained and will refrain from burdening you in any way. By the truth of Christ in me, this boast of mine shall not be silenced in the regions of Achaia. And why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do!

 

 

Ps 111(110):1-2.3-4.7-8. 

I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart

in the company and assembly of the just.

Great are the works of the LORD,

Exquisite in all their delights.

 

Majesty and glory are His work,

And His justice endures forever.

He has won renown for His wondrous deeds;

Gracious and merciful is the LORD.

 

The works of His hands are faithful and just;

Sure are all His precepts,

Reliable forever and ever,

Wrought in truth and equity.

 

Matt 6:7-15. 

Jesus said to His disciples: “In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words.

Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.

This is how you are to pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name,

your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread;

and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors;

and do not subject us to the final test, but deliver us from the evil one.

If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you.

But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.”

 

 

 Commentary of the day :

 

Give us this day our bread of life (John 6:35)

 

“Give us this day our daily bread”, your own beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, in memory, understanding and reverence of the love which our Lord Jesus Christ had for us and of those things which He said and did and suffered for us. “Forgive us our trespasses” through your ineffable mercy, through the power of the passion of your beloved Son together with the merits and intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and all your chosen ones.

“As we forgive those who trespass against us”: and whatever we do not forgive perfectly, do you, O Lord, enable us to forgive to the full so that we may truly love our enemies and fervently intercede for them before you returning no one evil for evil and striving to help everyone in you. “And lead us not into temptation”, hidden or obvious, sudden or persistent. “But deliver us from evil”, past, present and to come. Amen!

 

Saint Francis of Assisi (1182-1226), Founder of the Friars Minor  

 

 

Now I know what makes a person a Saint

Today's Gospel reflection is based on Matthew 5:43-48.

Jesus said to his disciples: "You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.
But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you,
that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.
For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same?
And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same?
So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.

 Commentary of the day :

Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus (1873-1897), Carmelite, Doctor of the Church
Autobiographical Manuscript C 13 v°-14 r° (trans. copyright Institute of Carmelite studies)

                    Love of one's enemy    

There is in the Community a Sister who has the faculty of displeasing me in
everything, in her ways, her words, her character, everything seems very
disagreeable to me. And still, she is a holy religious who must be very
pleasing to God. Not wishing to give in to the natural antipathy I was
experiencing, I told myself that charity must not consist in feelings but
in works; then I set myself to doing for this Sister what I would do for
the person I loved the most. Each time I met her I prayed to God for her,
offering Him all her virtues and merits. I felt this was pleasing to Jesus,
for there is no artist who doesn't love to receive praise for his works,
and Jesus, the Artist of souls, is happy when we don't stop at the
exterior, but, penetrating into the inner sanctuary where He chooses to
dwell, we admire its beauty. I wasn't content simply with praying very much
for this Sister who gave me so many struggles, but I took care to render
her all the services possible, and when I was tempted to answer her back
in a disagreeable manner, I was content with giving her my most friendly
smile and with changing the subject of the conversation... Frequently,
when... I had occasion to work with this Sister, I used to run away like a
deserter whenever my struggles became too violent. As she was absolutely
unaware of my feelings for her, never did she suspect the motives for my
conduct and she remained convinced that her character was very pleasing to
me. One day at recreation she asked in almost these words: "Would you tell
me, Sister Therese of the Child Jesus, what attracts you so much toward me;
every time you look at me, I see you smile?" Ah! what attracted me was
Jesus hidden in the depths of her soul; Jesus who makes sweet what is most
bitter.